The fight in Afghanistan is at a stalemate, and the significant number of Afghan troop deaths in the war is not sustainable, the Marine officer nominated to command U.S. forces in the Middle East told lawmakers on Tuesday.

Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie warned the Senate Armed Services Committee against an abrupt withdrawal of American forces or change in strategy despite frustration over the status of the 17-year conflict. He said he doesn’t know how long it will take to develop an Afghan force capable of defending its own country.

You don’t say? Just 17 years and we are precisely nowhere. Imagine where we’ll be after 34 or 100?

But, just a part, the spark maybe. The war raging in the streets in France is the product of popular anger over many things. Chief among them is the early tenure of the bankster batman and Oedipus Rex weirdo, Emmanuel Macron.

Macron, in Argentina for a G20 summit, said he would convene ministers to discuss the crisis upon his return on Sunday. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe cancelled a trip to Poland.

“We are in a state of insurrection, I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Jeanne d’Hauteserre, the mayor of Paris’ 8th district, near the Arc de Triomphe.

The popular rebellion erupted out of nowhere on Nov. 17 and has spread quickly via social media, with protesters blocking roads across France and impeding access to shopping malls, factories and some fuel depots.

On Saturday, some targeted the Arc de Triomphe, chanting “Macron Resign” and scrawling on the facade of the towering 19th-century arch: “The yellow vests will triumph.”

Addressing a news conference in Buenos Aires, Macron said no cause justified the looting of stores, attacks on the security forces or torching of property. The violence, he said, had nothing to do with the peaceful expression of legitimate grievances.

“I will always respect differences. I will always listen to opposition, but I will never accept violence,” Macron said.

Protesters smashed the windows of a newly opened flagship Apple Store and luxury boutiques of Chanel and Dior, where they daubed the slogan “Merry Mayhem” on a wooden board.

Close to the Place Vendome, Christmas trees decorating the streets were upended, piled in the middle of an avenue and set ablaze, prompting chanting from scores of protesters.

Order appeared to have been restored late in the evening, although small groups were still at odds with police near the Champs Elysees.

Authorities said violent far-right and far-left groups had infiltrated the yellow vests movement. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said most of those arrested were regular protesters who had been egged on by the fringe groups.

The protests began as a backlash against Macron’s fuel tax hikes, but have tapped into a vein of deep dissatisfaction felt towards the 40-year-old’s economic reforms, which many voters feel favour the wealthy and big business.

Yeah. Someone mentioned something about those “reforms” around the last election: “Maybe once a Rothschild servant isn’t always.” Maybe it is.

The good news is that, in the face of this leaderless uprising of the real French people, Oedipus sits at what? a 20% approval rating. There’s mild hope he could depart early. Hope for the future.

Incoming Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will work with the Trump administration to keep asylum seekers out of the U.S. while their applications are pending in court, according to a Mexican official with knowledge of the talks.

The tentative agreement is a departure from current U.S. procedure, which allows those seeking asylum to remain in the U.S. until their case is reviewed by an immigration judge. U.S. and Mexican officials have been secretly negotiating for the past two months, the official said, and are nearing a final deal.

One wonders when a wayward EC federal judge will order MEX to drive them across the border anyway.

None of them are eligible for asylum. None of them can be American. All of them are a threat. Take the gloves off, Mr. Trump.

Courtesy of Jimmy Fallon of all people. Fallon, whom I can’t bring myself to express an opinion about, hosted a threesome of evil droids on whatever his show for the lower-IQ masses is called. For full disclosure, I watched but did not listen to the following. I find the audio beyond annoying.

Please watch the bot demos (reading my assessment below):

Jimmy Fallon/YouTube.

As most of you know, my only interest in these damned devices is how to destroy them. Keep that in mind.

1. Little Dog (< 2:10ish)

These models and their larger cousins are one of the greatest outright martial threats to us – right now. These were developed by or through DARPA and are intended to act as hunter-killers, the real Mechanical Hounds. They are quiet, faster, and extremely agile. Unfortunately, these are currently ready for deployment. Here’s how to beat them:

Shoot center mass, where, in these models, all vitals are housed – battery, motors, “brains.” For this little guy, a single round of buckshot should suffice. Sidearm wise, I’d hit it twice on each side of the bifurcated body. And, you’d better be quick. For these very small units, if one can catch it while it’s still and on the ground (as opposed to on your neck already), a hard stomp should cripple it – allowing for more and heavier stomps. Stomp until it stops moving and/or starts smoking. I DO NOT recommend stabbing these. Yes, most fixed blades should easily penetrate the shrouding. However, one cannot guess, without schematic consultation, where or how powerful the batteries are. Avoid the shock. For the Big Dogs, it’s multiple rounds of buckshot and/or slugs or rifles. Hit it until it ceases functioning (hope it can’t or doesn’t shoot back). Engage the Biggies, if at all possible, from a distance.

2. WTF Apple (Tomato??) Ballgag Bot (2:30 – 4:30ish)

Okay, I didn’t listen to the audio and I really have no idea what’s going on with this one – overtly. As far as I could visually gather, the sole purpose of this model is to affix a ballgag in the mouth of the host/victim. There is probably a degree of mind and motor control as well. All of this probably has something to do with silencing dissent or with some demented ritual act(s). No matter; again, for my consideration it’s all about dispatching the evil ASAP.

All locomotion seems to be provided by the human slave on which this mid-sized mechanical beast is perched. Thus, per the ancient adage, it’s one in the head, two in the chest. Collateral damage or mercy killing, whichever have you. In this demonstrative case, the host gentleman is some sort of mentally defective oddball. I realize the shooting will be harder (or easier) when it’s your sister-in-law.

Once the host in on the ground, proceed to go center mass on the droid. I suspect the apple (tomato) head is mostly empty. Again, fire or strike until it’s “dead.” I would avoid any manual strike with feet, fists, or elbows in this case – there’s the possibility of this thing attempting to grapple its way up an extended limb. Use a club or other truncheon, or a firearm.

3. Sophia, proto-terminator T-300 (4:40 – )

Here, we glimpse the greatest danger – possibly surpassing that of the ED-209-like variants. This “lady” is smaller, less convincing, and much less advanced than other models already available. The goal with this line is the deployment of a series of infiltrators, indistinguishable from ordinary humans. They’re closer than one might expect.

The take-down: Sophia is wheel based. I do not think she has the ability to right herself once toppled. Thus, a swift kick or shove should ground her. From there (or, even while she’s standing) it’s gun work. Center mass is important but not complete. There’s something vital in her “chest” housing. However, I sense motorization is below the belt – between her waist and the loco wheels. Hit both areas repeatedly until she stops moving and/or catches fire.

I think a heavy melee weapon (un-bladed or pointed as to avoid electrical shock) would work. On Sophia, heavy kicks, stomps, or other manual blows might work. Do be careful with more elaborate humanoid models. If it can walk, it’s probably stronger than all but the strongest man; don’t get close enough to find out.

*****

In general, a localized EMP or a liquid flame-thrower will also work wonders, particularly the pyro route. Word of warning: let Hellywood and Elon keep the propane flames; you and I need sticky, continuous burning.

In general, do not watch the products of television or Hellywood – let them keep all the insanity with the insane. Leave recon to people like me.

As always, keep your eyes open and keep spreading the word. These things hate us and are determined to snuff us out. We must all do our parts to defeat the robot menace. Fight!

I find it amusing in a way that the US will immediately and without hesitation drop bombs in Syria for absolutely no reason at all. Yet, when it comes to defending our country from actual invasion, absolutely nothing is ever done.

Good news! Opposite that last link, we have at least one Christian Pastor left in America still ready to stand up for Christianity. And he’s not backing down.

Compare and contrast that hard stand with what’s happened of late in Ireland. They legalized just about every form of depravity on the Emerald Isle. Now, some feign shock and outrage when rape suspects get off based on “what she was wearing.” One thing leads to another…

“There is a strong fear of complacency, that people have become so used to the United States achieving what it wants in the world, to include militarily, that it isn’t heeding the warning signs,” said Kathleen Hicks, a former top Pentagon official during the Obama administration and one of the commissioners. “It’s the flashing red that we are trying to relay.”

The picture of the national security landscape that the 12-person commission sketched is a bleak one, in which an American military that has enjoyed undisputed dominance for decades is failing to receive the resources, innovation and prioritization its leaders need to outmuscle China and Russia in a race for military might reminiscent of the Cold War.

The military balance has shifted adversely for the United States in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, undermining the confidence of American allies and increasing the likelihood of military conflict, the commission found, after reviewing classified documents, receiving Pentagon briefings and interviewing top defense officials.

“The U.S. military could suffer unacceptably high casualties and loss of major capital assets in its next conflict. It might struggle to win, or perhaps lose, a war against China or Russia,” the report said. “The United States is particularly at risk of being overwhelmed should its military be forced to fight on two or more fronts simultaneously.”

In its list of 32 recommendations, the commission urged the Pentagon to explain more clearly how it intends to defeat major-power rivals in competition and war. It assailed the strategy for relying at times on “questionable assumptions and weak analysis” and leaving “unanswered critical questions.”

Economic depression, this foreign defeat, and 2033. Are you a prepper??

On a not unrelated note, given the expected “unacceptably high casualties,” maybe we could use a little of the overseas adventurism budget to shore up some of these 1-star VA zombie factories.

I read somewhere – somewhere stupid like Facebook maybe – a while back about some fantasy scenario which pitted the mighty US military against the entire world. In the fantasy, the US won, cakewalk style, in about a day. Questionable assumptions and weak analysis, there. A touch of insanity too. This is going to be hard to accept if or when it happens. 460 AD. Rome.

The fake news, as presented by Yahoo!, laments the passing of civil discourse in America. For the record, these folks just parrot the many lies of the other lying liars. As such, they can’t even report the fake news’ fake news without more fake news.

She flipped through television channels and radio stations, scanning from conservative to liberal media, searching for any sign that the polarized nation had finally reached its tipping point.

For days, Elisa Karem Parker had been seeing updates in the news: A pipe bomb sent to liberal political donor George Soros. One delivered to CNN. More to former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other prominent political figures villainized by those on the right — a bizarre plot unfolding just ahead of the midterm election that will decide which party controls Congress.

“It’s like our country is becoming ‘The Hunger Games,'” Parker, who considers herself squarely in the middle of the political divide, told her husband and teenage son over dinner.

“It’s like our country is becoming…” Proper tense, here, is “became.” Maybe if more people had turned off the teevee and paid attention BEFORE we reached the tipping point, something could have been done.

I don’t subscribe to Jane’s, but I understand there are at least a few functioning Thunderbolts left in service. One is all it would take to stop the newest foreign invasion column. The one that really IS a national emergency.

So, for the second time this year, it appears President Trump is ready to send more US troops to the border, as he said in a tweet Monday morning that he’d notified the border patrol and military that this is a “national emergency” while reiterating that the blame lay with Democrats for refusing to change our “pathetic” immigration laws.

The president also claimed that “unkown Middle Easterners” had become “mixed in” with the caravan.

And since Honduras and Guatemala did nothing to stop the migrants despite Trump’s requests for assistance, the president added that we would be cutting off aid: “We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them.”

7,000 strong, well funded, growing and advancing daily. They’re not coming to as refugees; they can’t. Refugees must stop in the first “safe” country they come to. That’s MEX, not the USA. They’re not coming to assimilate. At best, they’re coming to loot. At worst, to conquer. That’s what invasion columns on the ground do. Luckily we have an aerial platform to deal with that threat.

And, no, there is no reason to actually shoot any of these invaders. Here’s how it could work:

Tell MEX to stop them or there will be immediate (but very limited) US military intervention (we do this all the time – we’ve done it with MEX and they’ve done it with us);

Hold off until the column is in the clear, with a long stretch of highway ahead;

Have a single A-10 fly over them as low and slow as possible – let them see it;

A-10 peels back around, very slowly, and then – miles ahead of the front of the column, sets up a gun run;

Engage GAU-8 Avenger canon – cease firing well ahead of closest hostiles so as to leave them completely unharmed but very scared (the sight and the sound);

Another low, slow fly-over, this time dropping leaflets, “You Have To Go Back.”